Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a condenser.
Discussion of the Background
Herein and in the appended claims, the upper side, lower side, left-hand side, and right-hand side of FIG. 1 will be referred to as “upper,” “lower,” “left,” and “right,” respectively.
A condenser for a car air conditioner which can reduce installation space has been demanded. In order to meet such a demand, the applicant of the present invention has proposed a condenser which can reduce installation space (see the pamphlet of WO2010/047320). The proposed condenser includes a plurality of heat exchange tubes disposed in parallel such that they are spaced apart from one another in a vertical direction and extend in a left-right direction; and header tanks which extend in the vertical direction and to which left and right end portions of the heat exchange tubes are connected, respectively. Three or more heat exchange paths each formed by a plurality of heat exchange tubes successively arranged in the vertical direction are provided such that the heat exchange paths are juxtaposed in the vertical direction. Refrigerant flows in the same direction through all the heat exchange tubes which form each heat exchange path, and the flow direction of refrigerant flowing through the heat exchange tubes which form one of two adjacent heat exchange paths is opposite the flow direction of refrigerant flowing through the heat exchange tubes which form the other heat exchange path. A first header tank and a second header tank are individually provided at the left end or right end. First heat exchange tubes which form at least two successively arranged heat exchange paths, including the heat exchange path at the lower end, are connected to the first header tank. Second heat exchange tubes which form the heat exchange paths provided above the heat exchange paths formed by the first heat exchange tubes connected to the first header tank are connected to the second header tank. The first header tank is disposed on the outer side of the second header tank with respect to the left-right direction, and the upper end of the first header tank is located above the lower end of the second header tank. The first header tank has a function of separating gas and liquid from each other by making use of gravitational force and storing the separated liquid. The upper-end heat exchange path, among the heat exchange paths formed by the first heat exchange tubes connected to the first header tank, and the heat exchange paths formed by the second heat exchange tubes connected to the second header tank serve as refrigerant condensation paths for condensing refrigerant. The heat exchange paths formed by the first heat exchange tubes connected to the first header tank, excluding the upper end heat exchange path, serve as refrigerant super-cooling paths for super-cooling refrigerant.
Incidentally, the condenser disclosed in the pamphlet has been desired to be designed such that, when refrigerant is charged, the amount of refrigerant charged into a refrigeration cycle reaches, in an earlier stage, a proper level at which the degree of super-cooling becomes constant.